1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to an electronic mail (e-mail) messaging system, and more specifically, to a method, apparatus and computer program product for preserving e-mail messages.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a global network of computers and networks joined together by gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of a sending network to a protocol used by a receiving network. On the Internet, any computer may communicate with any other computer. Information between computers travels over the Internet through a variety of languages also referred to as protocols. The set of protocols used on the Internet is called the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
The Internet has revolutionized communications and commerce as well as being a source of information and entertainment. For many users, e-mail is a widely used format to communicate over the Internet. It is commonplace for users to send e-mail messages to other users through the Internet.
The use of e-mail messages is commonplace for both personal and business use. E-mail messages are used by individuals to keep in touch with and communicate with other users. Additionally, e-mail messages provide a medium to collaborate and exchange documents.
Expiration of e-mail messages and shutdown of e-mail services due to an overfull mailbox have become normal and necessary parts of e-mail messaging systems in order to prevent server disk space overload. The toll on productivity as a result of these actions may be enormous. The loss of important documents as a result of inattention by an e-mail user is a potential hazard to company productivity and audit trails.
In addition, an absence from work due to a vacation or for another reason, or a lack of access to an e-mail account for any reason may cause an e-mail user to fail in the maintenance of important documents and in limiting e-mail repository size. The result may be the permanent removal of critical documents as a result of their having expired and/or the inability to receive important documents as a result of a locking of an e-mail account due to a lack of disk storage space.